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Sunday, April 22, 2012

Sermon 04222012 Easter 2, Second Sunday After Easter

May
the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your
sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.AMEN.

Let
us pray, Jesus Christ is Risen from the dead, Alleluia!Jesus Christ You laid down Your life for we
Your sheep.For in and through our
baptism into Your life, death and resurrection, we are grafted into the flock
of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ.May
we understand that we are in Your flock and that in knowing You we will be one
flock with the One Shepherd, You Jesus Christ our Lord.May we listen to Your voice and flee to Your
loving arms that promise us eternal life for all the world, including all of us
saints gathered here at Emmanuel this morning.AMEN.

Jesus
Christ laid down His life for us, but He is Risen!He is Risen indeed!Alleluia!

Recently,
Michele and I saw one of the preview clips for the upcoming two-part movie
adaptation of The Hobbit: Bilbo Baggins.For those of you who enjoyed the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Peter
Jackson returns with the prequel to the trilogy.Having already met the character of Gandalf,
it is not a stretch to see Gandalf a few years younger embarking upon an adventure
with the Elves, Dwarves, Men of the Age and a hobbit.In this prequel Gandalf plays a key role as
leader, guide and shepherd as the band of ‘explorers’ head to the Misty
Mountains.

Just
as Gandalf leads and guides this group, this morning’s Gospel opens the door to
the biblical understanding of some terms that we need to ‘come to grips
with’.The first term is ‘hireling’.In an agronomic society in the Holy Land,
Jesus Christ used terms that the people would easily understand.Ironically here in Western Kansas, we grow
the same crop, wheat.And we know that
sometimes on the farm we need additional help.The term ‘hireling’ simply denotes a day laborer who only has an
interest in working and being paid a fair wage.We have heard many stories of laborers from the bible, like the story of
the denarius and the landowner paying the one who worked 12 hours the same as
the one who had worked one hour.The sad
aspect is that the hirelings were usually exploited and sometimes abused and in
most cases could leave one farm and go get another job rather quickly.Thus the hirelings in some cases did not care
about the land owners investment, the crops yield or even the herd if they were
watching a flock of sheep or pigs.

A
disciple on the other hand was one who craved to ‘learn’ what was being taught
in order to pass on the teachings.It is
clear from Jesus that He had 12 ‘real’ disciples who were always with Him and
hung on His every word.These disciples
walked with Jesus, soaked up His knowledge and presence for the sole purpose of
passing on what they learned.The
disciples were learning about the salvation message that was fulfilled in Jesus
Christ life, death and resurrection.

But
for us today, we need to ask ourselves are we ‘hirelings’ or are we
‘disciples’?This is a tough question if
we truly ask ourselves and honestly discern our true feelings.On the surface all of us want to say we are
‘disciples’, but the truth that God sees from our lives is that we sometimes act
like ‘hirelings’.We want what we want
immediately and do not see, nor understand ourselves as ‘interested’ or
‘investing’ in what is most beneficial for the kingdom of God.Whether it is reading the bible daily,
exercising the muscle of faith given to us in baptism like we had this morning
with Matthew and Abigail, or individually seeking opportunities for service as
a lector, acolyte, coffee host or greeter.Should we seek for the glory with our names in the bulletin like a
‘hireling’ or should we be a disciple and do the job, not for our own glory,
but for the glory of God?Hence, the
question still requires an honest answer; are we hirelings seeking our own
glory, or are we disciples, seeking God’s Glory?

The
promise we have no matter our answer, whether hireling or disciple is that
Jesus Christ died for each of us.Jesus
Christ Who came down from heaven, suffered and died the death we deserve, is
our Great Shepherd Who calls, gathers and cares for us in each of our daily
lives.Jesus Christ, no matter the
situation had as His primary focus His going to Jerusalem and suffering for
each and every one of us.Jesus Christ in
the Gospels clearly tells of His impending suffering and death and had as His
focus the eternal gain we would inherit by His active obedience as the Great
Shepherd.Jesus Christ was not a
‘hireling’, but a true ‘disciple’ and shepherd of the Great Flock of witnesses
gathered now in heaven.

But
what is our answer are we ‘hirelings’ or ‘disciples’?No matter our answer Jesus Christ lived, died
and rose from the dead in order to set us free from the sins that bind us.As the Great Shepherd we who are His sheep
hear His voice and are gathered into His loving eternal arms.For this is the message of salvation that we
share with each other and which God shares with us clearly and freely for all
of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel.May
we who gather here at today, whether hireling or disciple embrace the message
of salvation offered for each of us and understand our role as model and mentor
for the newly baptized like Abigail and Matthew and journey with one another as
brothers and sisters in Christ.For God
did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the World
might be saved through Jesus Christ and His life, death and resurrection for
all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel.AMEN.